AAA: July 4 travel to increase in Kansas region

Requests for roadside assistance also increase

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Fourth of July travel will increase this year in the region including Kansas, according to projections from AAA.

AAA projects about 3.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home in the west north central region, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. If that projection is correct, it would be a 0.7 percent increase from 2013 and the busiest Independence Day holiday for travel since 2010, with about 15 percent of the region’s population taking a trip, according to AAA.

The top destinations for AAA members in Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan were Branson, Canada, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Dallas and Disneyworld. Wichita AAA members listed their top destinations as Branson, Table Rock Lake, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Dallas. About 86 percent of travelers in the region including Kansas said they would go by car.

Nationwide, about 41 million people will travel, and about 85 percent of them will drive — the highest volume of drivers for Independence Day since 2007, according to AAA. About 7.6 percent of travelers will go by air, which is roughly the same percentage of travelers as in 2013, but represents the highest number since 2004 because the number of travelers has increased.

Betty Oliva, executive assistant at AAA Kansas, advised drivers to check their car fluids, make sure their tires are properly inflated and check their batteries before taking a long trip. Drivers also should have a cell phone with them to call for help if necessary, she said.

Last year, AAA responded to 1,000 roadside assistance calls in Kansas during the Independence Day extended holiday, including 400 requests for towing and 172 battery problems, which is far above the number over a typical weekend because of the increased number of people on the road, Oliva said.

“There’s a definite increase in tire service, jump starts and towing,” she said.

The AAA report counts the Fourth of July weekend this year as lasting from Wednesday to Sunday. The projections are based on surveys of about 50,000 households, overall economic conditions and the cost of gasoline, airline tickets and hotel stays.